Based on an Oceana news release, 10th December, Marinet reports: The EU is the largest seafood market in the world, importing more than 60% of the seafood it consumes. Over 15,000 vessels operate under the EU’s Fishing Authorisation Regulation, or FAR, to fish in non-EU waters, through various agreements such as access agreements between the […]

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The New Economics Foundation reports: On 24th November 2015, the New Economics Foundation (NEF) hosted a cross-party parliamentary briefing at the House of Commons about the Blue New Deal initiative. Thanks to Peter Aldous MP for Waveney, Suffolk, for making this possible. The Blue New Deal aims to deliver more and better jobs for coastal […]

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The New Economics Foundation reports, 9th December 2015: On the 14th and 15th of December, Ministers from EU Member States will meet to set Atlantic fishing quotas for 2016. These annual negotiations are extremely important for EU fisheries and Ministers have the opportunity to prevent overfishing and rebuild fish stocks in EU waters. Unfortunately, so […]

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The Community of Arran Seabed Trust (C.O.A.S.T.) reports in its November 2015 newsletter: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designed to protect marine species and habitats (many of which are also fish nursery grounds), while at the same time allowing nearly all of the marine activities which already occur in these areas to continue. They are […]

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This Marinet Special looks at whether the EU countries and their Fisheries Ministers (The Fisheries Council) are complying with the legal requirements established by the 2014 reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Prior to 2014 the CFP, administered by the Fisheries Minister and the EU Commission, was notorious for overfishing, and for setting catch […]

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Indiegogo.com reports, November 2015: Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve near Tofino, British Columbia, is the Last Great Rainforest on Vancouver Island — world famous for monumental cedars, bears, wolves and whales. It is home to the Hesquiaht, Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations. Wild salmon are the lifeblood of these ancient forests and cultures, providing food and […]

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Alain Cadec MEP (France), chair of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee, writes in The Parliament Magazine, 19th October 2015: Two years ago, the EU adopted an in-depth reform of its common fisheries policy (CFP). The objective for all of us is the sustainable management of fisheries stocks. It is an essential condition for the competitiveness […]

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Oceana reports, 22nd October 2015: The Agriculture and Fisheries Council of the EU has reached an agreement on the 2016 total allowable catches (TAC) for the Baltic Sea fish stocks. Regretfully, just like the last year, European ministers have yet again decided to ignore scientific advice for cod, setting the fishing limits well above sustainable […]

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New Economics Foundation (NEF) News Release, 22nd September 2015: UK seas already support over 750,000 jobs in coastal areas. Yet these communities are often some of the most deprived. Could healthier and more productive seas help provide for more and better jobs in the future? Coastal communities tend to fare worse than other UK regions […]

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The University of Glasgow News reports 13th August 2015: Measures introduced over a decade ago to protect spawning cod in the Firth of Clyde were “too little, too late”, a new study finds. Data published in the ICES Journal of Marine Science, showed no evidence that a seasonal closure of part of the Firth had […]

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Mark Costello and Bill Ballantine report in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, September 2015: Conservation needs places where nature is left wild; but, only a quarter of coastal countries have no-take Marine Reserves. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been used to indicate conservation progress, but we found that 94% allow fishing and thus cannot protect […]

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The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) reports 24th September 2015: The iconic European cod fishery which collapsed in the 1980s and has been ailing ever since, has finally increased above dangerously low levels and hauled itself off the MCS Fish to Avoid list. As part of our autumn update to FishOnline (www.fishonline.org), North Sea cod is now rated 4 […]

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The Bridport and Lyme Regis News reports, 10th September 2015: The master and owners of a fishing boat have been ordered to pay more than £12,000 after pleading guilty to illegal fishing in Lyme Bay. Leigh Shields and SRR Trawlers Ltd pleaded guilty at Torbay Magistrates Court to eight charges relating to a trip in […]

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The Sunday Herald reports, 6th September 2015: Fishermen are facing prosecution for allegedly breaching a ban on scallop dredging designed to protect a wealth of seabed wildlife off the west coast of Scotland. The Scottish Government’s marine watchdog has seized dredging gear and submitted a report to the Procurator Fiscal accusing fishermen of illegally scraping […]

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The Bass Anglers’ Sportfishing Society (B.A.S.S.) reports: After years of political deadlock, 2015 has been a watershed year for Sea Bass conservation. With the help of considerable grass roots pressure from recreational anglers and conservationists across the EU, the EU Commission has succeeded in persuading the EU Member States to agree to a number of […]

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Nature.com reports, 27th August 2015: The first scientific evidence that trawling in waters deeper than 600 metres is ecologically damaging and provides poor economic return is reigniting debate about the controversial fishing practice. For years, European scientists, environmentalists, politicians and commercial fishermen have debated whether or how to limit deep-sea trawling, which critics say causes […]

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We provide here, via audioboom.com, the transcript of a radio interview with Chris Williams, New Economics Foundation, which focuses on his assessment of the current mechanics and future operation of the EU Common Fisheries Policy, click here. Interview length: 23 minutes. Source: Audioboom.com, August 2015

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Indiefarmer.com reports, 19th August 2015: The future of Britain’s inshore fishing fleet hangs in the balance because of EU quota systems that prioritise larger fishing boats. In the darkness of 3.30am on the Stade beach in Hastings, Sussex, Paul Joy and his crew prepare to set out to sea cuttle-fishing. Engines grumble, wood creaks and […]

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Rukayah Sarumi, Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner, writes in the Huffington Post, 14th August 2015: across the political spectrum gripped a fish for the cameras and pledged to fight for local fishing-communities — it seemed that a swell of support for sustainable, small-scale, fishing was finally washing into parliament after years of neglect by successive governments. “Grab […]

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The UK Government (Defra) and its Fisheries Minister, George Eustice MP, has announced 5th August 2015: “ New restrictions on the fishing of sea bass, including the introduction of a minimum catch size, will come into effect from as early as 1st September. This is following action by UK government to protect this iconic and threatened […]